How to care for my new kitten !

dani elliott

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She a sweet heart. How do I put weight on her she really thin
  • Been giving her kitten formula with kibble
little wet food too once a day .  whats the best for her
what do i do about my kittens sharp claws they hart bad  when she attacs me when she playing
 

ldg

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Hi Dani, and welcome to TCS! :wavey:

Where did you get her? We're just wondering how she came to you so young. Because she's not with her family any more, she'll need a lot of attention from you! :heart2: Kittens have a lot of energy, and as she gets a little older, she'll be all over the place and into everything. :lol3: You'll need to help use up some of that energy with a LOT of play!

I saw your introduction here http://www.thecatsite.com/t/245066/new-to-this but since I want to help you figure out how to care for her properly, I figured I would post here. :)

Since she stays in your room most of the time, please take a little time to make sure it's safe in there for her! If you have blinds or curtains in your room that have a string of any kind, please make sure they're somehow tied up, because those can be very dangerous. If you have anything that can get broken if she knocks it off a dresser or a desk or something, best to put it away for now. :)

Since she's already weaned from mom, the best thing to do for her is to give her wet food. If your family only wants to buy food from the supermarket, the best choices would be the Friskies Pate - the Pate only - or Fancy Feast Classic formulas (only the classic kind). The others have ingredients in them that aren't good for cats, and those two kinds are lower in carbohydrates, and carbohydrates aren't good for cats. As a growing kitten, she'll need a lot of food! Basically you can feed her as much as she wants to eat for now. With all that energy she needs for growing, and all that energy she uses for playing, she can use all that food! And it sure doesn't hurt to be supplementing her with the kitten formula, at least for another couple of weeks. If you are going to continue to offer her dry food, a better selection from the supermarket is Purina Cat Chow Naturals. If you want to know a little bit more about cats and what's best for them, you might want to read this thread: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/244959/is-all-canned-food-better-than-dry Read all the way down, because we get into more detail about why canned food is better than dry. (I feed my cats raw food, I don't buy cat food any more).

As to her claws, the best thing to do is clip them! Kittens can be very squirmy, and most cats don't like to have their claws clipped at first. Once they understand it doesn't hurt, it's not a problem. But there's no reason not to start doing it right now. It's best to start when she's asleep. If she's used to you touching her when she's asleep, start just by touching her paws when she's sleeping. Hold her paw, and push the claw out. It helps if YOU get used to doing that too. After a day or two, when this is "normal" and comfortable for both of you, have a treat ready for her. Push just one claw out, and snip it with the nail clipper. Just snip the sharp tip of it off - you don't want to clip too close to her paw, just like when you clip your own nails, you don't want to clip too close, or it hurts. Give her a treat, and tell her WHAT a good kitty she is! Just clip one. Then every time she's sleeping, just clip one nail, and keep going around in a rotation. You'll both get used to it, and soon you'll find you can clip two nails before before she gets squirmy, then three, then four, etc. Just make sure you have treats ready, and praise her. In no time, you'll be able to hold her to do it, and you'll be able to clip all the claws on each paw before you give her the treat. :D

She may still be a little young to want to scratch and sharpen her claws. But she will soon, and you should be prepared for that. You should get her several different kinds of scratchers. The TurboScratcher is a GREAT toy for kitties, and has the cardboard scratcher in the middle. Most kitties and cats LOVE this toy! You should also get her a scratching post. It's best if it's made if sisal, that way she doesn't confuse carpet for something she can use to scratch on. It should be very sturdy, cats won't use the scratcher if it's wobbly. A large, solid base with a post that's about 2 feet tall or so is wonderful for them. Stretching and scratching are as natural to cats as breathing is to us, so it's important to provide them with appropriate places to do that!

Cats also LOVE to jump around and go UP! They're very three-dimensional animals. You can help give her lots of space to go UP by any number of things. Clearing off the top of a dresser, a shelf in your room; maybe put a small table near a bookcase so she can get up there, that kind of thing.

Has she been to the vet yet? Was she treated for worms or fleas? Was she rescued from outside, or adopted from someone's whose cat had kittens?

When she's about four months old, she will begin to teethe. You will want to keep a LOT of straws scattered around, because she'll need something proper to chew on (instead of your hands and feet). PLEASE don't use your hands or feet as toys, that is a habit that is nearly impossible to break. And you'll need to get her spayed when she's about five or six months old. Our vet always suggests having them spayed as soon as their first baby tooth falls out.

Enjoy your little girl! :clap: What's her name?

:wavey:
 

ldg

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OH! I totally forgot to tell you about the best way to teach her what is OK and what is not OK. When she attacks you (this is natural for a kitten! :lol3: ), it's REALLY helpful if you have some kind of wand toys around. (But ALWAYS put them in a closet when you're not playing with them, because little kitties love to eat those strings, and that can become a life-threatening problem). So when she attacks you say "no" sternly, grab the toy and redirect her attention. When she starts playing with it, PRAISE her a LOT! Tell her WHAT a good girl she is! When she starts scratching, and she uses the scratching post or the turbo scratcher or whatever you get for her, praise her! Cats learn SO much better with positive reinforcement than anything else, and they need to know what is GOOD, and what they're doing right! So any time she's playing well, praise her. This will go a loooooong way to helping prevent behavior you don't want.
 

ldg

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And here are some articles that may help you. :)

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-best-take-care-of-cat-claws

For scratching: http://www.catscratching.com/

Brushing your cat's teeth is just as important as brushing yours - it can help avoid a lot of problems down the road. No time like the present to get started! The younger they are, the easier it is to get them used to it. I don't know if the article mentions it, but a great way to get started, once you've purchased a brush appropriate for a cat (NOT a human toothbrush!, put a little wet food on it to get her used to the idea of having the brush near, and then in, her mouth. Here's an article that may help: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/brushing-your-cats-teeth

Cat Safety tips: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/cat-safety-tips

Hope these help!
 

orientalslave

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I have never clipped my cat's claws as a routine.  When they were kittens if they hurt I shouted 'ow' very loudly and stopped playing with them.  Kittens naturally play rough, and have much tougher skins than we do.

Don't use your fingers (or any other part of you) as a toy, you are encouraging behaviour you don't want.  Do play with balls, soft toys and things on the end of a bit of string.  DON'T leave the string around when you are not about.

Of course the best toy by a country mile for a kitten is another kitten... 
  You wouldn't believe how much and how hard they play - we are poor substitutes!

Feed her as much as she wants to eat.  Kittens do grow in spurts - they get longer, they fill out, they get longer and so on - but they should never be really boney.  Do you know how old she is and how much she weighs?  Where did she come from?  It's possible she has worms.  Has she been to the vets for a check?
 

carolina

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Here is a picture of Jynx from the other thread OrientalSlave - the vet thinks she is 3-6 weeks, but I think she is older....

 

orientalslave

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Thanks, nice pic, gorgeous kitten though looking a bit evil here!  I'd agree with a little older as her eyes are not blue.  Has she been wormed and so on?  Do you know how much she weighs?
 

eb24

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What a cutie! Something I noticed from your pic- is her collar a quick release one? I think collaring is so important but you have to be so careful with young kittens. Make sure you only use one that is a quick release and is specifically made for kittens. Also, most only work on kittens over two pounds. Putting on a regular buckle collar without a quick release or an adult size collar can be deadly, as it can snag on something and she doesn't have enough body mass to trigger it to unlock. Better for her to have no collar for the time being than risk having her accidentally hang herself. Before my fosters are 2 pounds I use the paper wristbands that they sell at office supply stores for concerts and other events- you can write her name and all your information on that. Then, just cut it off and put on a new one as she grows. 
 

StefanZ

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Very good suggestions and tips about collars, EB24! 

Make perhaps an own tread/post about it, so it will be more visible and easier searchable!

Having a pure inside only milieu, you dont think the use of collars is necessary. But if there is ANY risk they may get out, yes it may be best to have some sort of collar on.  Excellent tip about these paper collars.

And a small kitten who is out, goes easily astray, as they dont have the feeling of revire. May go running after some beautiful fly or something.

It is one of the main reasons never to let kittens go out alone. Go toghether with them if you feel it is important for kittens to go outside.

Another use of such paper collars may be to mark the kittens out.  Say, you do have 5 kittens with the same colour and shape.  You are perhaps a breeder, or it just happened so. You can have the collars in different colours.  You can mark the collars with a color pencil if they have only one standard color.

(EB, please  take these comment with you when you do rewrite your post, or please notice me you had started the new post).
 
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dani elliott

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we got her from a old man siting out side of Wal mart

we already made the room kitten safe

have no blinds to worry about just a cur ton

I will try what you said on clipping her nails

no hasn't seen the vet yet but going to make appointment for her.

she was a house cat dose not like to go out side

she got a lot of teeth already

yes looking to having her spayed  her name is jynx my little girl

thanks for letting me know what to feed her and was better
 
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dani elliott

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Thank u all  you all have been big helps for me  i thank u all very much
 
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dani elliott

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Carolina hay thanks for the help jynx is doing good she even used the kitty litter box

from day one clipped her nails and she didn't even care  now just got to get her some more toys and a cat tree 
 
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